Roller delivery twist unit



1967 H. w. H. WASHBURN 3,330,143

I ROLLER DELIVERY TWIST UNIT Filed Aug. 15, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Henry Zl/H Zl/asfzbum BY W Caiztz' 'rf d HZTorneys July 11, 1967 H. w. H. WASHBURN 3,330,143

ROLLER DELIVERY TWIST UNIT Filed Aug. 13, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Henry ZlfH. Zlfashburn B F 6442:? fwd Ham J ly 1 1967 H. w. H. WASHBURN 3,330,143

ROLLER DELIVERY TWIST UNIT 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 13, 1964 INVENTOR. Henry Z/[H Wish/Earn BY M, Ma 5%4 H orneys July 11, 96 H. w. H WASHBURN 3,330,143

ROLLER DELIVERY TWIST UNIT Filed Aug. 13, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

Henry 2% H Mash bum 5%4 Hum United States Patent Cfihce 3,335,143 Patented July 11, 1967 3,330,143 ROLLER DELIVERY TWIST UNIT Henry W. H. Washburn, Spencer, Mass., assignor to Morgan Construction Company, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Aug. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 389,324 7 Claims. (Cl. '72-230) This invention relates to guide apparatus for use in a rolling mill and more particularly to a roller delivery twist unit utilized in imparting a predetermined degree of twist to stock passing from one roll stand to the next.

The positioning of twist rollers in close proximity to a roll pass formed by the work rolls of the preceding roll stand is a factor of considerable importance in properly designing roller twist units. To explain, roller twist units normally include a pair of twist rollers which are spaced to define a twist passageway having a cross-sectional configuration slightly larger than that of the stock emerging from the work rolls. The twist rollers are usually preceded by a stripper guide extending from the twist unit to a point at which it either closely approaches or frictionally engages the work rolls. The stripper guide prevents stocks from adhering to the work rolls and in conventional installations, usually imparts a certain degree of pretwisting to the stock prior to its passage between the twist rollers. By angularly adjusting the twist rollers about the pass line, stock passing therebetween will be contacted and twisted, thereafter assuming a spiral as it continues toward the work rolls of the next succeeding roll stand. Experience has shown that twist imparted to the stock as it passes between the twist rollers is inversely proportional to the distance between the twist rollers and the next succeeding roll stand. For example, assuming that the stock is to be turned through an angle of 90 prior to its entry into the next succeeding stand, the degree of twist imparted to the stock by virtue of its passage through the twist passageway may be expressed mathematically as follows:

x=distance from the work rolls of the preceding stand to the twist rollers y-zdistance from twist rollers to the work rolls of the next succeeding roll stand x-I-y=total distance between the work rolls of both roll stands.

In view of the above, it becomes apparent that by keeping the value of y at a maximum, a reduction may be achieved in both the severity of the twist being imparted to the stock and the impact between the leading ends of stock and the twist rollers. Moreover, by minimizing the degree of twist imparted to stock by the twist rollers, the necessity of pre-twisting with the stn'pper guides is completely obviated.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a roller twist unit with twist rollers positioned in close proximity to the work rolls of the preceding roll stand. This is accomplished by rotatably mounting the stripper guide to the adjustable portion of the twist unit containing the twist rollers without any intermediate supporting structure. By so doing, the space occupied by the stripper guide between the work rolls and the twist rollers (x) in the above-mentioned mathematical expression is considerably shortened with a corresponding increase in the distance (y) between the twist rollers and the succeeding roll stand. Moreover, because the stripper guide is rotatably mounted to the twist unit, it may be left in its operative position in frictional or near frictional contact with the work rolls when subsequent adjustments to the twist rollers are made.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a roller twist unit with stripper guide means positioned between the twist rollers and the work rolls of the preceding roll stand, said stripper guide means being mounted to the roller twist unit in such a manner as to facilitate subsequent installation of the roller twist unit, thereby avoiding the necessity of tedious settings required with conventional pretwist stripper guides.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide means for compensating for slight variations in elevation between the roller twist delivery unit and the work rolls of the preceding roll stand by providing a flexible mounting for the stripper guide.

Another object of the present invention is to provide means for quickly disconnecting the stripper guide from the roller twist delivery unit when replacement is necessitated.

, These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of several roller twist delivery units according to the present invention mounted on a common rest bar;

FIG. 2 is a rear end view of a roller twist delivery unit showing the means for rotatably adjusting the twist rollers;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view in elevation of the roller twist delivery unit taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the stripper guide mounted on the head assembly with portions broken away to better illustrate structural details.

Referring now to FIG. 1 wherein are best shown general features of the invention, a plurality of roller twist de livery units indicated typically by the reference numerals 10 are shown mounted in adjacent aligned positions on a common underlying saddle plate 12 which is in turn suitably mounted on a rest bar 14. Although not illustrated in FIG. 1, it is to be understood that rest bar 14 is afiixed to the roll housing of a particular roll stand and extends transversely beneath the pass line. Saddle plate 12 is held on the rest bar by a plurality of spaced conventional saddle plate clamps 16 partially illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3.

Referring now to the remaining illustrations, the roller twist delivery units 10 are comprised basically of outer box-like housing structures 18 having underlying integrally fabricated longitudinal keys 20 designed to seat themselves within spaced keyways 22 cut into the upper surface of saddle plate 12. Each housing structure is further provided with an inner cylindrical passageway 24 extending longitudinally therethrough as shown in FIG. 2. A tubular barrel member 26 having a head assembly 28 forming an integral part thereof at its forward end is axially inserted for rotation within passageway 24. When the unit is in place on saddle plate 12, the rotational axis of barrel member 26 will coincide with the pass line of the mill. Barrel member 26 is additionally provided at its other end with an adjusting plate 30 fixed thereto by means of retaining bolts 32 extending through arcuate slots 34.

As can be best seen in FIG. 2, integrally fabricated extensions 36 and 38 extend laterally in opposite directions from adjusting plate 30 to provide guides for the adjusting mechanism. More particularly, a vertical passageway 40 is drilled through extension 36 to receive in slidable insertion therein spring guide pin 42. The guide pin is provided wtih an enlarged head 44 held against an integrally fabricated fixed abutment 46 of housing structure ing the 3 18 by means of a coiled spring 48 through which the pin is passed before being axially inserted in passageway 40. The other lateral extension 38 is provided with an adjusting screw 50 threaded therethrough to contact a 7 Referring specifically to FIG. 4, twist rollers 58 having tubular bearing inserts 60 are spaced to provide a twist passageway 62 and are rotatably mounted on roller shafts 64 extending transversely between side members 54. Each roller shaft is provided at one end with a recess designed to cooperate with an exterior keeper plate 68 which hold- 28 by means of a retaining screw 70.

It should now be apparent that the head containing spaced rotatable twist rollers 58 is itself rotatable with tubular barrel member 26 which extends through cylindrical passageway 24 in housing structure 18 to terminate at its other end in an adjusting plate 30. With It:- taining bolts 32 tightened, the combination of head assembly 28, barrel member 26, and adjusting plate 30 may be rotated as a unit about an axis corresponding to the pass line. By loosening retaining bolts 32, the head assembly 28 and barrel member 26 may be rotated freely by hand without disturbing the relative position 'of adjusting plate 30. By so doing, rough hand adjustmentspredetermined in accordance with the aforementioned mathematical expression can be made to the head assembly prior to installation of the unit in the mill. Once this has been accomplished, retaining bolts 32 are tightened and adjusting screw 50 utilized to subsequently perform fine adjustments during operation of the mill. Rotation of adjusting screw in a clockwise direction will result in a force being exerted against abutment 52 which tends to rotate the adjusting plate 30, tubular barrel member 26 and its associated head assembly 28 in a counterclockwise direction as spring member 48 is compressed between abutment 46 and extension 36. In a similar manner, counterclockwise i rotation of adjusting screw 50 will result in opposite rotation of adjustingplate30 as spring member 48 is expanded to maintain the end of adjusting screw 50 in contact with abutment 52.

As can be best seen in FIG. 5,, head assembly 28 is further provided with a tubular extension 72 having a g cylindrical passageway 74 extending axially therethrough.

A stripper guide 76 shaped to be inserted between work rolls 77 is provided with an integrally fabricated reduced diameter tubular extension 78 designed to be axially inserted within cylindrical passageway 74 when attaching the stripper guide to head assembly 28.,Tubular extension 78 is further provided with a peripheral groove 80 having positioned therein a compressible'O' -ring :82. With this construction, the stripper guide, is installed by simply positioning O-ring 82 in peripheral groove 80 and thereafter axially inserting tubular extension 78 into passageway 74 7 until opposed integrally fabricated shoulders 83 contact the forward face of cylindrical extension 72 as at 85. With this construction, it cantherefore be seen that slight pivotal motion of the stripper guide'relative to head assembly 22 about points 85 is permitted dueto the fact that the outer diameter of tubular extension 7 8, is "smaller than the inner diameter of passageway 74. This pivotal motion permits the stripper guide to shift its position slightly as it is pushed into contact with the work rolls 77. Thus it can be seen that slight variations in elevation between the pass line and the roller twist delivery unit will be compensated for by the aforementioned pivotal flexibility of stripper guide 76.

It is alsoimportant to note that tubular extension '78 of stripper guide 76 is free to rotate within passageway 74. Consequently, it can be seen that once the stripper assembly 28 guide 76 is positioned between work rolls 77 in frictional engagement therewith, the head assembly 28 may then be rotatably adjusted about the pass line as previously discussed when making adjustment to the twist rollers 58 without the necessity of first having to disturb the stripper guide from its operative position. When the stripper guide is in near frictional contact with the work rollsas opposed to actual frictional contact as illustrated in the drawings, it will rotate slightly with the head assembly as adjusting screw 50 is turned. However, this slight rotation is unimportant in view of the fact that the stripper guide has no pretwist function.

Stripper guide 76 is further provided with an axialpassageway 84 extending therethrough from roll pass 86 shafts in place during operation of the milLKeeper plate 68 is in turn fixed to the side of the head assembly formed by grooves 88 in the work rolls to the twist pas-- sageway 62 formed between twist rollers 58. With this arrangement, oncominggstock 90 immediately enters the enlarged mouth *89 of guide passageway 84 and is prevented from adhering to the surfaces of the work rolls 7-7 by the mating contact surfaces 92 of the stripper guide in frictional contact therewith. The stock is then guided by guide passageway 84 between twist rollers 58 where it is contacted and twisted as it passes; through twist passageway 62.

In FIG. 4, stock '90 having a substantially oval shaped cross section is shown immediately prior to being contacted by twist rollers 58. It is evident'from this illustration that as the stock enters guide passageway 62 formed between twist rollers 58, it will be contacted on either, side at 94.

This contact'will impart a twist to the stock which willv cause it to spiral in the conventional manner as it continues. toward the next succeeding roll stand. The stock is guided following its emergence from twist passageway 62 by means of a delivery pipe 96 (see FIG. 3) axially in-' serted through tubular barrel member 26 and held in mediate bushing 104 to a vertical passageway 102 in saddle plate 12. Passageway 102 leads into an annular chamber 106 formed between the outer cylindrical surface of barrel member 26 and an interior annular groove 108 in the passageway 24 extending through housing structure 18. The

water is then carried by passageways 110 extending through tubular barrel member 26 and head assembly 28 to be applied to both the guide roller surfaces and their inner sleeve bearings 60. With this construction, it can be seen that the twist rollers will be continuously cooled and lubricated regardless of the rotational position of barrel member 26 within outer housing structure 18.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of. the invention as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, a few of. the advantages gained through its application-to a conventionalrolling operation will now be briefly reviewed. By rotatably mounting stripper guide 76 directly to head assembly 28 which contains the rotatably mounted twist rollers, an importantadvantage'is gained in that no intermediate supporting structure is required. This mater, rially decreases the distance between the preceding work rolls and the twist rollers and thereby provides a greater distance between the twist rollers and the next succeeding roll stand. As previously mentioned, since the degree of twist that must be imparted to the stock is inversely pro- ,portional to the distance between the twist rollers and the next succeeding roll stand, by increasing this distance the degree of twist is correspondingly reduced.

Advantages are also gained from the particular means utilized in mounting the stripper guideto the head assembly. More particularly, when installing a twist unit 10, it is simply positioned on saddle plate 12 with key 20 seated within the particular keyway 22 to be utilized. Thereafter, the unit is pushed forward towards the work rolls until stripper guide 76 contacts the work rolls. The pivotal motion of stripper guide 76 about points 85 due to the engagement of shoulders 83 with the forward face of cylindrical extension 72 permits the stripper guide to adjust itself to slight variations in elevation between the rotational axis of the twist unit and the pass line formed by the work rolls. Once the twist unit is in place, retaining bolts 112 threaded through a plate member 114 attached to an overlying transverse stationary beam 116 are backed on until they come into contact with the upper surface of housing structure 18. In this manner, the retaining bolts 112 hold the twist units in place during normal operation of the mill. However, should the twist unit undergo an abnormal impact due to the creation of a cobble, the frictional contact between retaining bolts 112 and the upper surface of housing structure 18 will be overcome and the twist unit allowed to slide to the rear until key 20 is disengaged from keyway 22. In this manner, serious damage to the twist unit is avoided.

When initially adjusting the twist unit prior to installation in the mill, retaining bolts 32 are first loosened to permit independent rotation of combined head assembly 28 and barrel member 26 as a unit. Assuming that the stock is to be turned 90 prior to its entrance into the next succeeding stand, head assembly 28 is then manually adjusted to the twist angle computed by use or" the mathematical expression:

When so adjusting head assembly 28, stripper guide 76 is held stationary, thus allowing cylindrical extension 72 to roate relative to reduced diameter tubular extension 78. Thereafter, retaining bolts 32 are tightened and the unit installed. Once the mill is in operation, final adjustments to head assembly 28 can be made by simply turning adjusting screw 50. Thus it can be seen that any major angular adjustment of the twist rollers is performed prior to installation of the unit in the mill. Final adjustments are made while the mill is in operation by the operation of a single readily accessible adjusting screw.

When the stripper guide becomes worn, its replacement is also facilitated by the present construction. More particularly, when removing a stripper guide it is simply grasped by an operator and pulled from the passageway 74 extending axially through extension 72. Another strip per guide is then axially inserted in a similar manner With a minimum loss of time.

It is my intention to cover all changes and modifications of the invention herein chosen for purposes of disclosure which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. For use in a rolling mill, guide apparatus for twisting stock passing from one roll stand to the next during the rolling operation comprising: a stationary support structure having a core element rotatably mounted therein, said core element having a guide passageway extending axially therethrough, a pair of twist rollers carried by said core element, said twist rollers being spaced to define a twist passageway therebetween in communication with said guide passageway, said support structure being adapted to be mounted between roll stands with said twist and guide passageways aligned axially with the mill pass line, means for rotatably adjusting said core element relative to said support structure in order to vary the twist imparted by said twist rollers to stock moving along said pass line, and, stripper means mounted on the forward end of said core element for stripping stock from the work rolls of the roll stand immediately preceding said guide apparatus, said stripper means being rotatable relative to said core element about the mill pass line.

2. The guide apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said stripper means is adapted to be placed in frictional engagement with the work rolls of the roll stand immediately preceding said guide apparatus.

3. The guide apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said stripper means is mounted for pivotal movement relative to said core element in order to compensate for slight variations in the position of the mill pass line caused by lateral movement of the work rolls in Contact with said stripper means.

4. The guide apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the means for rotatably adjusting the core element relative to said support structure is comprised of an end plate secured to the other end of said core element, said plate having an adjustment screw threaded therethrough and spring means carried by said plate member for urging one end of said adjustment screw into contact with said support structure, whereby rotation of said adjustment screw will result in rotative adjustment of said core element within said support structure.

5. The guide apparatus as claim in claim 4 wherein said end plate is releasably secured to said core element, thus providing a means of rotating said core element without imparting a corresponding rotation to said plate.

6. The guide apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said guide passageway is provided with a tubular liner axially inserted therein, the forward end of said liner being suitably shaped to permit the positioning thereof in close proximity to the nip of said twist rollers.

7. The guide apparatus as claimed in claim 6 further provided with means for continuously cooling and lubrieating said twist rollers regardless of the angular adjustment of said core element relative to said support structure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 947,305 1/1910 Hughes 72-230 1,157,378 10/1915 Geer 72-230 1,680,105 8/ 1928 Johnson 72-227 2,023,913 12/1935 Carroll 72-230 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD J. HERBST, Examiner.

H. D. HOINKES, Assistant Examiner. 

1. FOR USE IN A ROLLING MILL, GUIDE APPARATUS FOR TWISTING STOCK PASSING FROM ROLL STAND TO THE NEXT DURING THE ROLLING OPERATION COMPRISING: A STATIONARY SUPPORT STRUCTURE HAVING A CORE ELEMENT ROTATABLY MOUNTED THEREIN, SAID CORE ELEMENT HAVING A GUIDE PASSAGEWAY EXTENDING AXIALLY THERETHROUGH, A PAIR OF TWIST ROLLERS CARRIED BY SAID CORE ELEMENT, SAID TWIST ROLLERS BEING SPACED TO DEFINE A TWIST PASSAGEWAY THEREBETWEEN IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID GUIDE PASSAGEWAY, SAID SUPPORT STRUCTURE BEING ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED BETWEEN ROLL STANDS WITH SAID TWIST AND GUIDE PASSAGEWAYS ALIGNED AXIALLY WITH THE MILL PASS LINE, MEANS FOR ROTATABLY ADJUSTING SAID CORE ELEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID SUPPORT STRUCTURE IN ORDER TO VARY THE TWIST IMPARTED BY SAID TWIST ROLLERS TO STOCK MOVING ALONG SAID PASS LINE, AND, STRIPPER MEANS MOUNTED ON THE FORWARD END OF SAID CORE ELEMENT FOR STRIPPING STOCK FROM THE WORK ROLLS OF THE ROLL STAND IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING SAID GUIDE APPARATUS, SAID STRIPPER MEANS BEING ROTATABLE RELATIVE TO SAID CORE ELEMENT ABOUT THE MILL PASS LINE. 